Homeless start settling in fuchsia 'Nickelsville'

Tent city set up as response to mayor's actions

JOHN IWASAK, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

By JOHN IWASAKI, P-I REPORTER

Published 10:00 pm, Monday, September 22, 2008

Advocates for the homeless set up about 150 fuchsia tents near the Duwamish River on Monday to draw attention to the needs of homeless people while taking a swipe at Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. Randy, who has been homeless for seven years, works on putting a space blanket around his tent to help keep it warmer. Randy didn't want to give his last name.
Photo: Scott Eklund/Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Advocates for the homeless erected about 150 fuchsia-colored tents on public land Monday to draw attention to the needs of homeless people while taking a swipe at Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels.

Dubbed "Nickelsville," the encampment is supposed to reflect a modern-day Hooverville, the Depression-era shantytowns whose inhabitants blamed their economic woes on President Hoover.

Homeless advocates criticize Nickels for the city's policy of clearing homeless encampments and want more shelter beds and social services. They set up camp shortly after 4 a.m. Monday in an industrial area near the Duwamish River, just east of where West Marginal Way Southwest meets Highland Park Way Southwest.

"We're trying to come up with solutions (while the city spends) all this money bulldozing encampments," said Aaron Colyer, 28, who is moving to the camp from his Ballard apartment. Colyer said he has held "90 jobs in nine years," everything from construction to restaurant work, and battles post-traumatic stress disorder.

The encampment is a project of the local chapter of the nonprofit Veterans for Peace, with support from a variety of groups. Some residents of Tent City 3 in Shoreline and Tent City 4 on Mercer Island were moved to Nickelsville.

The city's protocol is to send staff members to the encampment to "do outreach: talk with people, offer shelter beds and offer other types of services," said Nickels spokeswoman Karin Zaugg Black. "The next step is to post a 72-hour (eviction) notice because it is illegal to be camping on public property."

City officials posted the notice at 5 p.m. Monday at the encampment, which has four portable toilets.

Homeless advocates plan to eventually replace the tents with permanent, simple wooden homes -- "a shantytown" of 250 to 1,000 residents, said Peggy Hotes of Veterans for Peace.

Among the campers was Jay Beard, 30, who arrived three months ago from Tulsa, Okla., hoping to eventually land work in the Alaskan fishing industry.

"I came to find opportunity and a piece of the American dream," he said while rolling a cigarette. "So far, I've only found a tent. But hey, I'm trying. I don't want to stay in a tent forever."